I am planning a few outings in the near future to shoot some local minor hockey league games. The plan is to test my skills (or lack of...) with a bit of action photography. I will be using: Canon 50D with either Canon EF-S 17-85mm USM IS 1:4~5.6 or Canon EF 75-300mm 1:4~5.6 III. I can't afford a better lense at this time nor will I be using a flash, therefor I was wondering what ISO settings you would recommend.

I plan to start at ISO 800 and move up from there, depending on the results.

Am I on the right path or should I start at a higher ISO setting? (1600 or even higher?)

For sports you generally want a shutter speed of 1/200 at least. I'm not familiar with hockey games, but at an aperture of 5.6 it sounds like a mission impossible. I'd aim for 1/100 shutter speed, possibly also illuminated a bit by a zoomed flash.

_________________I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

Since it is intended as a learning experience I'd suggest using shutter priority at 1/200 or 1/250 as was already suggested to begin with and use the automatic functions of the camera (Auto ISO) to let it choose both aperture, which in low light will most likely be wide open, and let it choose the ISO it needs in order to get good exposure for the shutter speed you NEED. Because shutter speed is vital here to avoid motion blur.

Then you check which ISO values the camera uses under different conditions (light/zoom level). That way you learn what ISO values this camera needs with the used lens under the given light conditions.

Personally I use auto-ISO on the 50D unless I'm doing some manual stuff or need to go above 1600. I'd also go with the suggestion of sticking it in shutter priority, particularly important if you use wider lenses as the body tends to use longer shutter times as you get wider angle. I don't know what sort of speeds you need in a hockey game though so you may want to experiment a bit there.